TriMet board recognizes 'operators of the year,' longtime employee

View full sizeTriMetPlacards like the one displayed above can soon be seen on TriMet bus and rail lines. The placards recognize TriMet operators for outstanding job performance.

The TriMet board on Wednesday recognized three "operators of the year" and one longtime employee for their performance on the job.

And soon, bus and train riders will see special on-board placards adorned with their faces.

Jacklyn Oswald, a Northeast Portland resident, received the Bus Operator of the Year Award. Oswald has worked for TriMet since 1989. She often tries to work evening shifts in order to spend daytime hours with her children, according to a TriMet statement.

The Max Operator of the Year Award went to Andrew Hicks, also a Northeast Portland resident. Hicks has worked for TriMet since 2006 and has earned agency awards for safe driving and superior performance.

The Part-Time Bus Operator of the Year Award went to Hallie Fowlkes of Portland, who has worked for TriMet for almost five years. She has three years of perfect attendance, in addition to multiple awards for safe driving. Fowlkes operates buses on lines 8, 12, 44, 70, 85 and 94.

One longtime employee received a special recognition after three straight decades of awards for superior performance.

Willie Jack, a TriMet bus operator of 35 years, is the first to gain the agency's new "Gold Master Operator" status.

Superior performance awards are given by the agency to operators who complete 1,960 hours of work without a single "preventable accident, warning, reprimand, or suspension," according to a TriMet statement. A spotless record of job attendance and customer service is also required.

Jack has fit that bill several decades, recently receiving his 30th straight "superior performance" award from TriMet - an occasion that spurred the special recognition.

Jack operates the Line 17 bus through S.E. and N.W. Portland, the most recent in a number of lines throughout his career.

He has lived in the Portland area for more than 40 years, and will celebrate his 37th wedding anniversary with his wife Marsha next May. The two have three daughters and five grandchildren. Jack also volunteers with local hunger programs, his church, the Boy Scouts and Juneteenth celebrations in the area, according to a TriMet statement.